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Monthly Archives: July 2017

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Scenes from Centereach's Class of 2017 commencement ceremony June 25. Photo by Greg Catalano

By Jill Webb

Leading Centereach High School Class of 2017 are valedictorian Demi Lambadis and salutatorian Kelly McLaughlin.

Lambadis divided her time between a busy academic schedule, student government involvement and extracurricular activities.

Since seventh grade, Lambadis has had it in the back of her mind that becoming valedictorian was “more of a personal goal as opposed to anything external.”

Demi Lambadis

She  graduates with 10 AP classes under her belt, along with three additional college-level courses. Her extensive AP course load has earned her recognition from the College Board as an AP Scholar with Honors.

In addition to academic success, Lambadis has served  as both the president and vice president for her class. She was also acting vice president of the school’s Leaders’ Club.

Agnieszka Taciak, an AP Environmental teacher at Centereach  whom Lambadis was close with, said she’s proud of the dedication her student continued to give to her curriculum.

“There’s no secret to it — she simply does work, and is very proud of the quality of the work,” Taciak said. “And she’s very humble about the approach to work.”

Dance is one of Lambadis’ favorite hobbies, and this year she’s once again on the road to nationals. She noted she also placed at every regional and national dance competition she entered.

Taciak recalls one instance where Lambadis’ work ethic stood out to her. The teacher had given an assignment over the same weekend her student had to travel to a dance competition.

“I was reasonably expecting that she would have to be asking for a time extension,” Taciak said, but was surprised when instead, Lambadis came into school that Monday smiling with the assignment ready in hand.

For students looking to be a future valedictorian, Lambadis said, “the main thing to focus on is to not worry about everyone else, and to worry about yourself.”

Come September, Lambadis will be a freshman at Lehigh University, studying biomechanical engineering.

Kelly McLaughlin

Salutatorian Kelly McLaughlin, like Lambadis, has completed an extensive amount of AP courses, finishing with 11, and adding four college-level classes onto that list.

Outside of academics, McLaughlin had a busy schedule. She balanced her time between serving as  president of her school’s National Spanish Honor Society and as an active member of the National Junior Honor Society.

Laura Melfi speaks very fondly of McLaughlin’s presence in her AP calculus class, regarding her as sometimes being a secondary teacher.

“Kids would ask her questions ‘Kelly, how’d you do this? What’d you do?’ if I was busy helping someone else,” Melfi said.

In the future, McLaughlin hopes to become a math teacher, citing her teachers, including Melfi, as inspiring her to take that career path. Melfi said she feels McLaughlin possesses the traits needed to be an effective math teacher.

“She doesn’t let her intelligence make her feel like she’s better than anybody else,” Melfi said. “She will help everybody and anybody.”

McLaughlin also sets aside time to give back to her community by volunteering as a tutor for students at the Middle Country Public Library. Her volunteer experience has landed her some tutoring jobs, usually in math and science.

McLaughlin said she enjoys being able to help out.

“For me to make someone understand it — that feels really good that I have that impact on them,” she said.

This experience will be handy as McLaughlin goes off to study mathematics and education SUNY Geneseo.

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Dear Readers,

Curious to find out how the North Shore community spent the Fourth of July, TBR News Media’s star reporter, Kevin Redding, took to the streets of Port Jefferson to interview local residents before the holiday. Here are some of their responses:

Jackie and Chris Buzaid, Lake Grove

Jackie: We usually go to my grandma’s in the Jersey Shore and watch fireworks and have a big cookout, stuff like that. We go to the beach, have barbecues, do sparklers.

Chris: I just like spending time with my extended family and seeing them, because we don’t usually see them that much over the years and it’s always nice seeing them and spending time together in the summer.

Devon Buckley, Poquott:  All of my friends … around six or seven of us … are gonna go on my family’s sailboat and go out to Pirate’s Cove, the first cove right at the mouth of the entrance of Port, on the night of 4th of July to see some fireworks. It’s usually a leisurely day, [but] we kind of do that every year. We just hang out, we’ll have a grill onboard, grill some food, go swimming. [Fourth of July] has always been a family and friends ordeal every year.

Pat Morelli, Setauket: I’m actually going up to New Hampshire for my brother’s wedding. It’s not on the 4th of July, but it’s going to be a long weekend type of thing with the whole family. Usually the family that’s here on the Island, we try to get together every 4th of July. It’s a nice, summer holiday where we get to remember how great this country is and hang out with each other.

Avery Looney and Michael Famiano, Port Jefferson Station:

Avery: We’re going to a pool party.

Michael: There’s gonna be barbecue, a fire pit, some fireworks. It’s just partying, [red, white, and blue] themed.

Jenna and Jeannette Cleary, Coram

Jeannette: Well, on the 2nd, we have a big family reunion. And then on 4th of July, we have Grandma’s birthday party first and then to my sister, who’s been having an annual party at her house in Manorville forever. We’ll be busy. My brother’s here this weekend from Hawaii and he plays games and is like the event coordinator. He’s bringing fireworks from out of state, there’s a pool. We split the time between my mother-in-law’s birthday and that. We do fireworks, they play horseshoes and volleyball. Then my brother makes up these games. Not a bad weekend

Jenna: Yeah, like egg tosses and stuff like that. You get covered in eggs. I got it last year..

Bill Evans and Kristine O’Brien, Holbrook: We live in Holbrook but we’re doing a little getaway for two days, staying at Danfords and hanging out in town. We’re just gonna walk around, enjoy the atmosphere, have dinner. For us at home, we show patriotism, but here, we’re really just looking to get away and have a 24-48 hours escaping from our four girls, ages 11 to 18, and throughout the weekend we’ll celebrate

.John and Nicole Goncharuk, Selden

Nicole: We’re just taking a walk out here today with the family, and then we’re gonna barbecue at the house for 4th of July.

John: Just barbecue stuff at the house. Not so much, since we have the kids now, nothing too big or extravagant. It’s low-key. We’re in Selden, so we’re way up high and we can see the fireworks at Bald Hill. But we might venture down here [to Port Jefferson] and we have pamphlets that show where fireworks are going on so we might check that out. There’s plenty to see and plenty to do [on Long Island]. We used to get dressed up nice, go out to dinner and stuff like that but now our priorities are different.

All photos by Kevin Redding

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A Christmas cactus blooms best when slightly root bound. Stock photo

By Ellen Barcel

With the need to complete outdoor chores and the excitement of a new gardening season, many people may be neglecting the houseplants that served them so well during the winter months. Even though some of these plants may look worse for wear, summer can be the ideal time to bring them back to their full potential. Here are some ideas for rejuvenating your houseplants.

Repotting plants into the next largest pot is always a possibility if the plant has outgrown its home. To check, slip your plant out of its pot, and if all you see are roots — no soil — the plant is definitely root bound. But be careful here, however. Progressively larger pots can easily outgrow the gardener’s ability to move them. Yes, I know from past experience.

Few houseplants are as eager to climb as a heartleaf philodendron, one of the easiest houseplants to grow. Stock photo

Many large plants, like the asparagus fern, can be divided to make a number of smaller ones instead. Sterilize a gardening knife and cut through the plant’s root system to divide it into several smaller plants. Always use a good quality and suitable potting soil for their new homes.

Another way of keeping your beautiful but large houseplant in check is by root pruning. We usually think of root pruning as something that is done to help create bonsai, the miniature ornamental Japanese trees and shrubs, but it can be done to houseplants to keep them from growing too large. Don’t be surprised if it takes a growing season for the plant to really flourish again.

Note that some houseplants do best by being slightly root bound. For example, African violets don’t really like to be transplanted. This is true of a number of plants. Another reason is that some bloom well only under slight stress. Plants that do better slightly root bound include peace lilies, spider plants, and Christmas cactus. Check out each plant in a good plant encyclopedia before tackling it.

If you’re tired of wrapping your indoor vines round and round the pot, they can easily be cut way back. You can then take the cuttings and root some in the same pot, making the plant nice and bushy. Extra cuttings can be rooted in other pots, shared with friends and relatives and even given as hostess gifts.

Plants in this category include philodendron, pothos (looks like philodendron but variegated), Swedish ivy and wandering Jew. They can also be rooted in a vase of water. Prune them back before new growth has emerged in late winter or early spring. The baby “spiders” from a spider plant can also be used to fill out the mother plant or used to start new plants.

Cactus are another popular houseplant. One of the things that easily happens to cacti is that pieces of the plant break off. These can easily be rooted again in the same pot to make a bushier plant or in separate pots. One of my most cherished retirement gifts is a Christmas cactus, rooted from a co-worker’s original plant. It’s rewarded me each year with beautiful flowers, reminding me of her thoughtfulness.

While watering your houseplants is a must over the winter (possibly in a more limited way), don’t start fertilizing until you see new growth.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

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Above, from left, Jamie Foxx and Ansel Elgort star in ‘Baby Driver'. Image courtesy of Tri-Star Pictures

By Kyle Barr

Think of all the songs that use the word “baby.” Think of every time it’s used in a love ballad, a rock song about a girl or close to every country song that comes out over the radio. Baby is mysterious. When we listen to those songs, we create the image for this “baby” in our heads, but we don’t really know much about who it really is.

In Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver,” Baby isn’t the vague object of desire; he’s the main character. The eponymous Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a young man whose head is constantly swimming with music. He doesn’t talk much with his mouth, but he expresses himself in the way he moves and the way he drives.

Lily James and Ansel Elgort in a scene from ‘Baby Driver’

The story takes cues from a host of classic crime movies. Baby is involved in a number of high-profile bank robberies. Things get more complicated as he falls in love with a waitress at the local diner named Deborah (Lily James) who loves music as much as Baby does. As Baby is drawn into one final heist alongside Darling (Eliza González), Buddy (Jon Hamm) and the psychotic Bats (Jamie Foxx), he must find a way to escape with Deborah and drive until its all left behind in the rearview mirror.

Wright, who serves as both director and screenwriter, has always had a knack for soundtracks that apply to both the tone and scene. One well-remembered scene from “Shaun of the Dead,” one of his earlier films, was of a group of heroes pummeling a zombie with pool cues to the ironic sounds of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

In “Baby Driver,” the entire movie takes on this schtick. Baby has tinnitus, an ear injury he received as a child, and he uses music to drown out the hum in his ears. All the music in the movie is diegetic, as in the music is listened to by the characters in the scene. When Baby removes a single earbud from his left ear, the music in the theater is coming from the right-hand speaker.

Ansel Elgort and Kevin Spacey in a scene from ‘Baby Driver’

It’s a brilliant thing to watch when it takes in the whole theater experience of spectacle and sound. Music becomes Baby and it transforms the world around him. It’s hard to tell whether Baby is acting to the beat of the music or the world itself is conforming to the sound.

The action scenes, such as the first car chase playing to “Bellbottoms” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, take on a new dimension when Baby turns and brakes in time to the song. Yet even the calmer scenes, like when Baby and Deborah bond in a laundromat over music, becoming much more charming even as Baby is incredibly sparing with his words.

It’s no coincidence that the most tense scenes in the movie usually occur when Baby’s earbuds are taken out and the music cuts. The movie is both classic in its heist movie sensibilities and also incredibly dark. Baby matches the audience in his fear and disgust at the death happening around him.

While the dialogue is clearly Wright, it is much more terse than his other films. Doc (Kevin Spacey) has some of the best lines in the film, where exchanges are often short and witty. “I’m looking at some of the country’s finest thugs and of course young Mozart in a go-cart over there.” But while his character is clearly meant to be powerful and frightening, his heel face turn during the movie’s climax comes too much out of left field. The entire climax in that way feels a little too forced, and without any spoilers, some character beats feel a little too forced as well.

But otherwise, “Baby Driver” is an excellent movie on its own, and it is a great way to start off the summer movie season. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself tapping your foot while Baby puts his foot on the gas.

Rated R for language and violence, “Baby Driver” is now playing in local theaters.

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Nomi Dayan gives a lecture at the Whaling Museum in Cold Spring Harbor

By Nomi Dayan

While most people today visit The Whaling Museum while on vacation or during the weekend, there was no vacation or days off for a whaler. Work was paramount for whaling crews. However, a whaler might look forward to the three holidays for which there was a chance of observance while at sea: the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (with Thanksgiving bring considered the most important holiday at the time).

Captains dictated if and how a holiday was observed. If there were instruments on board, nationalistic music was played and sung. Some crews engaged in whaleboat races for sport. If the captain was feeling generous, a special meal might be extended to even the lowest-ranking crew members. Culinary celebrations gave welcome respite from a monotonous and dreary diet of food that was often infested or spoiled. On a holiday, whalers might enjoy sea pies, a kind of pot pie that sometimes contained dolphin meat, or lobscouse, a stew of salted meat, onions and sea biscuits. Dessert might be mincemeat pie — which consisted of chopped meat, suet, raisins, apples and spices; dandyfunk, a baked mass of hard tack crackers and molasses; or duff, a boiled pudding.

 

Robert Weir aboard the Clara Bell journaled about a distinct feast on July 4th. He wrote how the crew fired salutes and enjoyed “coconuts, roast pig, minced pie, soft tack, ginger cake, pepper sauce, molasses, pepper, rice and pickles — quite extensive for a sailor.”

Aside from the chance of a special treat, July 4th — as with other holidays at sea — was likely to be a disappointment for those hoping for a break from work. Whaler William B. Whitecar Jr. recalled that when a crew member protested spinning yarn on the Fourth of July, the commanding mate’s answer was “Yes — it is fourth of July at home, but not here.”

Many logbooks, official records of daily activity on whaleships, do not document any festivities on this date, instead solely focusing on catching whales. The logbook of the Lafayette off the coast of Peru recorded July 4, 1843, only as an unfruitful day: “So ended this Fourth of July pursuing whales.”

Women who joined their captain-husbands at sea often noted the marked lack of observance of July 4th. Eliza Williams, who sailed with Captain Thomas Williams on the Florida from Massachusetts to the North Pacific and birthed two children during the voyage, wrote in her journal in 1859 in the Shantar Sea: “July 4th … some of the boats, it seems see aplenty of Whales, and once in a while are lucky enough to take one, but not often. Our boats lost two of their Men and that was not all … It doesn’t seem much like the Fourth of July, up here.”

Above, patriotic-themed scrimshaw from the collection of The Whaling Museum in Cold Spring Harbor. Photo from Cindy Grimm

A few years later in 1861, she recorded: “July 4th. Today is Independence. Oh how I would like to be at home and enjoy this day with family and friends. We cannot celebrate it here with any degree of pleasure. Just after dinner, we spoke the bark Monmouth [Cold Spring Harbor ship], Capt. Ormsby … He reported the loss of the clipper ship Polar Star, Capt. Wood, Master. Capt. Ormsby also told us that the Alice Frazier is lost …”

Mary C. Lawrence also described July 4th as being subdued while aboard the Addison with her husband Captain Samuel Lawrence, having sailed from Massachusetts to the Pacific and Arctic during 1856-1860: “The Fourth of July today and the Sabbath. How different our situation from our friends at home! A gale of wind with ice and land to avoid. The ice probably would be a refreshing sight to them. Probably the celebration, if there is any to come off, will take place tomorrow. We had a turkey stuffed and roasted with wild ducks, which are very plenty here. Perhaps tomorrow we may get a whale …”

In 1861, her journal followed the same theme: “July 4th. Minnie [daughter] arose early this morning and hoisted our flag, which was all the celebration we could boast of, as we did not get that whale that we hoped to. A beautiful day, which I improved by washing, after waiting ten days for a clear day.”

Martha Brown of Orient, Long Island, who had been dropped in Hawaii to give birth while her husband and crew continued onward to hunt whales, described her feelings of isolation. She addressed her husband in her journal on July 4th: “Yes the 4 of July has agane passed, and how think you, love, I have spent the day? Not as I did the last in your society, with our Dear little Ella [daughter left at home], but alone. Yes, truly alone. … My thoughts have been far from here today.”

There is great irony in considering how the very workers who powered America’s signature industry could not in reality celebrate its iconic national holiday. On the day when citizens on land joined feasts illuminated by whale candles and enjoyed parades wearing clothing stiffened by whalebone and fabric produced on machinery lubricated by whale oil, the very workers who produced these products were kept working, their eyes focused on catching the next whale.

Nomi Dayan is the executive director at The Whaling Museum & Education Center in Cold Spring Harbor.

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Amber Ferrari will pay tribute to Pat Benatar on July 15. Photo by Marie Fristachi

By Rita J. Egan

Vocalist Amber Ferrari is ready to hit music lovers with her best shot by taking on the hits of pop icon Pat Benatar.

Amber Ferrari as Pat Benatar

Known on Long Island for her production Joplin’s Pearl Featuring Amber Ferrari, dedicated to the ’60s icon Janis Joplin, Ferrari recently decided to create a show paying tribute to the music of Benatar — the singer behind hits such as “Love Is a Battlefield,” “We Belong,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Heartbreaker” and so much more. The new production, Benatar Featuring Amber Ferrari, will debut at Theatre Three July 15 as part of the venue’s Summer Concert Series.

It’s no surprise that the local singer is taking on the icon’s music. Not only are both from Long Island — Ferrari a native of East Patchogue and Benatar a graduate of Lindenhurst Senior High School — but both possess large vocal ranges. Ferrari said Benatar’s vocal style is one of the reasons she loves singing her songs, citing the pop stars knack for being able to sing classically or rock ‘n’ roll with a rasp.

“I enjoy singing rock music, and her songs have such a large vocal range,” Ferrari said. “She sings both clean and dirty, so I’m able to use both aspects of my vocals, and I love doing that.”

Ferrari said Benatar’s 1980 “Hell Is for Children” from the “Crimes of Passion” album and the second single from the “Precious Time” LP, “Promises in the Dark,” are among her favorites. “I love ‘Hell Is for Children’ because it’s so hard vocally, and ‘Promises in the Dark’ because the vocal range is so large,” she said. “It goes slow to up-tempo as well.”

Similar to her Janis Joplin show, and her 2015 production Material Girl Featuring Amber Ferrari, which spotlights Madonna’s hits, the Benatar show will open with a few songs from other artists. Ferrari said she has selected hits from Blondie, Melissa Etheridge, Linda Rondstadt and Journey as well as one of her own.

Ferrari said Theatre Three is the perfect spot to debut her new show. “Theatre Three has a dear spot in my heart,” she said. “First theater I ever did one of my full shows at was Theatre Three.” It was during Ferrari’s participation in the theater’s production of Woodstockmania: Woodstock in Concert in 2005 where the late music director Ellen Michelmore asked Ferrari to sing Joplin’s songs. After that experience, she was inspired to perform the legend’s songs on a regular basis and created her signature show.

Douglas Quattrock, director of development and group sales and marketing coordinator at Theatre Three, said he is always excited when Ferrari performs at the theater but he’s even more than usual with the singer debuting the Benatar show at the venue.

“As an artist, she is always expanding her horizons and never fails to impress her audiences with new material,” he said. “So when she told me she was thinking of putting together a Benatar show, I was thrilled. It is a perfect fit for her.” Quattrock said he is looking forward to Ferrari’s renditions of “We Belong” and “Promises in the Dark.”

The production will also feature special guest Teddy Rondinelli from the group Rondinelli who has performed with Vanilla Fudge and Robert Plant. Ferrari will be accompanied by her band, which includes Chris Ferrari on guitar, Mike Chiusano on bass, Gary Gonzalez on drums, Bob Bellucci on keyboards and Jim Carroll on percussion.

Ferrari said she’s attended concerts of Benatar’s in the past, and her performances are amazing to see. One day she hopes she’ll have the opportunity to meet the icon. Until then, she’s busy rehearsing for the her new show’s debut and is hoping music lovers will enjoy the production.

She encourages audience members to wear their favorite Benatar-inspired outfit the night of the show, too. “I hope they’ll have a rocking great time, and it will bring them back to the ’80s and rocking out,” Ferrari said.

Theatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson, will present Benatar Featuring Amber Ferrari July 15 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39 and may be purchased by calling 631-928-9100 or by visiting www.theatrethree.com.

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Photo courtesy of HAC The festival will showcase L.I. Dance Consortium’s Kaleidoscope of Dance 2 on Aug. 9. Photo courtesy of HAC

By Kevin Redding

For 52 continuous summers, Huntington has been a gathering place for lovers of live music, theater and dance, all on full display for multiple weeks during the town’s jam-packed and family-friendly performing arts extravaganza, the Huntington Summer Festival. This year the series of free concerts is bigger and better than ever, bringing touring and local artists of every variety to the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Heckscher Park six nights a week now through Aug. 13.

As the festival has grown since the Huntington Arts Council first started it in 1965, so has its roster of performers, which changes from year to year in order to bring new experiences to returning concertgoers.

New acts include the Adam Ezra Group, an up-and-coming, Boston-based folk band; New York Voices, an internationally renowned vocal ensemble; Miles to Dayton, an Americana-and-folk group from Port Jefferson; and Jay Armstrong Johnson, a Broadway and television performer, to name just a few. Local performing groups like the Huntington Community Band, the Huntington Men’s Chorus and the Long Island Dance Consortium will also have their chance to shine on stage. Plaza Theatrical Productions, a Lynbrook-based company, will put on several musicals throughout the summer including “My Fair Lady.”

The Huntington Community Band will present concerts on July 12, 19 and 26. Image from HAC

One of many brand new programs this year will be the Huntington Jazz Week, beginning July 18, which will feature big band jazz ensemble concerts put on by internationally recognized musicians, including harpist Brandee Younger and saxophonist Richie Cannata, of Billy Joel’s band, and nights dedicated to the music of composer George Gershwin and jazz legend John Coltrane.

The following weekend, on which the 12th Huntington Folk Festival takes place, will feature unplugged showcases with more than 40 different folk artists — everyone from Sarah Lee Guthrie, granddaughter of Woody and daughter of Arlo, to the Sweet Remains.

Every Tuesday evening is “family night” which offers kids music and live theater such as “Cinderella” on July 25 with fun-filled craft projects before the shows.

“It’s such a positive thing for the residents of the town as well as Long Island as a whole,” said Huntington Arts Council Performing Arts Director John Chicherio, who has served his position for eight summers and has been organizing concerts since the 1970s.

“Roughly 40 to 45 percent of the performances are really quality local group [and] roughly 55 percent of the program is made up of touring artists from all over the world and United States. These are all artists performing their own work and they’re new to Long Island in most cases. And the merchants enjoy it because we’re bringing people into the town and they go have dinner before or after the concerts. [The festival’s] just grown that way”.

He continued, “When the first Huntington [Summer Festival] was put together [in 1965], it didn’t have this many concerts, [but] because more groups wanted to perform over time, it grew and we’ve been building it into what it is today.”

Chicherio, who spearheaded the festival’s new, jazz-oriented week, said he’s excited for what’s in store for those who attend this summer. “It’s a very eclectic variety of performances in both the types of music and performing arts genres,” he said. “Plus, we’re doing workshops and master classes with a couple of groups. The whole week of jazz, one of the important things I’ve been trying to do, is [going to be] a very special week,” highlighting the Coltrane day, July 22, especially. “That evening I’ve got a terrific lineup with some very special guests, [like] the Kenny Garrett Quintet.”

According to Chicherio, the shows will go on rain or shine, unless “there’s lightning and thunder that can endanger the audience,” and attendees should feel free to bring lawn chairs and blankets, which they can place on the hill overlooking the stage for a great view.

Concession stands and vendors selling refreshments, such as ice cream and soda, will be set up inside the concert area and any outside food is welcomed. All shows begin at 8:30 p.m. with the exception of the children’s shows on Tuesdays, which begin at 7:30 p.m.

To see the full schedule of events, visit www.HuntingtonArts.org.

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PARTY OF SEVEN Jane Edsall spotted this family of mute swans swimming in Mount Sinai Harbor two weeks ago. She writes, “I am a resident of Mount Sinai and have enjoyed the harbor and its wildlife my whole life.” Brought to this country from Europe in the mid-1800s to adorn city parks and large estates, mute swans are known to mate for life. The cygnets will stay with their parents through the first winter.

Send your Photo of the Week to [email protected].

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Pan Bagnat

By Barbara Beltrami

Some of you may remember Starkist’s Charlie the Tuna, the suicidal fish who boasted about the superiority of his peers who made it to the cannery. I don’t even know if he’s still around, but I do know that good tuna is a real treat whether it’s white albacore whipped into a salad with mayonnaise and celery and maybe a little onion or belly tuna packed in olive oil and served as part of an antipasto or just a fresh tuna steak, seasoned, then seared on the outside and rare or raw on the inside.

Beyond these basic and familiar tuna preparations are myriad dishes that seem to emanate particularly from the Mediterranean countries and are real palate pleasers. An unusual summer sandwich is something called pan bagnat, French for “wet bread,” composed of tuna, olive oil, vinegar, tomatoes and anchovies plus variable other ingredients on crusty French bread. Now think about a fresh grilled tuna burger with wasabi mayonnaise or tonnato sauce, a creamy tuna emulsion that is as good as a dip as it is as a sauce.

Pan Bagnat

Pan Bagnat

YIELD: Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

One crisp-crusted baguette about 18 inches long

4 to 6 flat anchovies

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon coarse sea salt or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Two 6-ounce cans oil-packed tuna with their oil

One medium red onion, peeled and cut into thin rings

Two hard-boiled eggs, sliced thin

½ cup chopped Kalamata olives

One large firm ripe tomato, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS: Slice the baguette in half along its length. Scoop out enough of the soft part of the bread inside to make a well in each half. With a fork, evenly distribute the anchovies along the length of the bottom half of the bread. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and oil from tuna until it forms a creamy emulsion. Place the tuna, onion, eggs, olives and tomato in order given on top of anchovies. Drizzle oil mixture evenly over layered ingredients and immediately cover with top half of baguette. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, set on a flat surface at room temperature and weight down with a heavy skillet in which have been placed a couple of heavy cans or objects. Let sit at least two hours; then slice into four sandwiches. Serve with potato salad or chips, fruit and cheese and a light red wine or ice cold beer.

Tuna Burger with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Tuna Burger with Wasabi Mayonnaise

 

YIELD: Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

½ teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

1 pound ahi or sushi-grade tuna, finely chopped

One egg, beaten ¼ cup minced onion

½ cup bread crumbs

Coarse sea salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon wasabi powder

1/4 cup mayonnaise

4 hamburger rolls

1 cup lettuce leaves, washed and dried

4 slices tomato

DIRECTIONS: In a medium bowl whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce and pepper flakes. Add tuna, egg, onion, bread crumbs and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and form into four patties, cover and refrigerate half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat grill on high and mix wasabi powder with two teaspoons warm water; add resulting paste to mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Grill tuna patties one and a half minutes on each side for rare, longer for medium and well done. Place on bottom halves of rolls, top with lettuce and tomato and spread top halves with wasabi mayonnaise. Serve immediately with potato chips or french fries and cole slaw.

Tonnato (Tuna) Sauce or Dip

Tonnato Dip

YIELD: Makes 1½ cups

INGREDIENTS:

One 4-ounce jar Italian oil-packed tuna with oil

3 anchovy filets, chopped

1½ tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/3 cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS: Puree all ingredients in electric food processor until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Serve with crostini, potato chips, crackers, crudités or over simply seasoned pork, fish, chicken, veal or pasta.

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LIM senior curator Joshua Ruff, center with red tie, stands in front of ‘Fishermen’s Mural’ by Lumen Martin Winter with members of New York City’s Salmagundi Art Club after the tour. Photo by Heidi Sutton

By Heidi Sutton

The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook welcomed members of the Salmagundi Art Club last Saturday morning to view its latest exhibit, Lumen Martin Winter: An Artist Rediscovered. A guided tour of the collection was led by the museum’s senior curator Joshua Ruff followed by a live jazz performance and lunch in the Carriage House Museum.

Lumen Martin Winter was an important American public artist for more than 50 years, with major murals and commissions at the United Nations in New York and the AFL-CIO Building in Washington, D.C. In the late 1960s, he was chosen by NASA to design the official insignia for lunar missions Apollo 13 to 15. After his death in 1982, Winter’s name became as obscure as some of the fading frescoes produced in the prime of his career. Now, for the very first time in a museum setting, his work is being reappraised with new light being shed on this prolific but not fully appreciated artist.

The exhibit, which features 90 works of art from paintings to sculpture, runs through Sept. 17.

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